Atlus pushes Steal Princess into May, soothes wounds of disappointment with Spoils

[AtlusAram]

ATLUS PUSHES STEAL PRINCESS™ INTO MAY, SOOTHES WOUNDS OF DISAPPOINTMENT WITH SPOILS
Mini-poster for your thoughts?

http://www.atlus.com/res/stealprincess_miniposter_small_stroke.png

IRVINE, CALIFORNIA -- APRIL 2, 2009 -- Atlus U.S.A., Inc. today announced that Steal Princess™, the genre-bending puzzle-platformer for Nintendo DS™, has been delayed until May 19th. Unrelated to the delay but serving as a special treat to fans that either pre-order or pick up the game at launch, each and every copy of Steal Princess will include a special mini-poster with beautiful art inspired by the game.

"Releasing a few weeks later gives us more time to familiarize gamers with this creative, original title," stated Tim Pivnicny, VP of Sales and Marketing at Atlus. "Because Steal Princess will be available through fewer sales channels and in smaller quantities than other Atlus releases, finding the optimal launch conditions is critical to ensuring that this daring new release avoids getting lost in an already busy April."

The mini-poster extra, selected by fans through online voting, will be tucked behind the cover art, ensuring it reaches pre-order and launch date customers in perfect condition. This continues the Atlus Spoils program that provides fan-favorite extras with many Atlus games at launch.

For more information, visit the official website:
http://www.atlus.com/stealprincess

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Key Features
3-D puzzle platformer -- Dive into a playing field of simple design, but deceptively complex challenge, that combines action elements with puzzle-solving skills on a 3-D, isometric plane. Jump, swing, climb, and attack as you search for the key to complete each level.
Over 150 levels to beat -- Levels spanning different geographies and requiring different strategies deliver on the promise of true breadth. Play them again to beat your best times, earn higher rankings, earn better endings, and collect more gems to unlock items.
Create and trade custom levels -- A robust custom map maker lets you construct levels with any enemies, items, and victory conditions you want. Trade maps with other players over Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection and local wireless for a never ending challenge!

Steal Princess has been rated "E10" for Everyone 10 and older with Language, Mild Fantasy Violence, and Suggestive Themes by the ESRB.

###

About Atlus U.S.A., Inc.
Located in Irvine, California and founded in 1991, Atlus U.S.A., Inc. is renowned for its proud tradition of publishing exceptional role-playing games with strong niche appeal. The Atlus library of critically acclaimed video games includes Odin Sphere, the Trauma Center series, and the award-winning Shin Megami Tensei series. For more information, visit http://www.atlus.com.

For breaking news, special promotions, insider info, and more, visit http://www.atlus.com/faithful to join the ranks of the Atlus Faithful!

©2009 Marvelous Entertainment Inc. Licensed to and published by Atlus U.S.A., Inc.

[VMan]

I have to wonder, do you guys feel similar about 101 Explosive Megamix? I haven't sensed much "enthusiasm" about it on your part for that game. Much less so than Steal Princess.

[TokoTamer]

This was a really good decision on Atlus' part. Not only does it give other gamers more time become aware of the game's existence, but it pushes it back to a more feasible month for myself! =)

It would have been terrible if Steal Princess was pushed to June though, that month is absolutely packed with releases now. May was an excellent choice.

[Neveryll]

"Because Steal Princess will be available through fewer sales channels and in smaller quantities than other Atlus releases, finding the optimal launch conditions is critical to ensuring that this daring new release avoids getting lost in an already busy April."


So ummm exactly which sales channels will the game be released through?

[TokoTamer]

"Because Steal Princess will be available through fewer sales channels and in smaller quantities than other Atlus releases, finding the optimal launch conditions is critical to ensuring that this daring new release avoids getting lost in an already busy April."


So ummm exactly which sales channels will the game be released through?

Well, I'm assuming GameStop isn't going to be one from the looks of things..

[rainking187]

"Because Steal Princess will be available through fewer sales channels and in smaller quantities than other Atlus releases, finding the optimal launch conditions is critical to ensuring that this daring new release avoids getting lost in an already busy April."

This isn't going to be a thing, is it? Because I've traded in a bunch of games during this current GameStop promotion, and have enough credit to pick up pretty much all of the Atlus games I really want. I'm going to be really upset if it turns out that I can't buy any of them there.

EDIT: I just got the email, and...what? The game will be available from Walmart.com but not from GameStop? What?

Izuna 2 veterans will know where to look for it

In the mailbox a few weeks after you get the game? ;p

[Buzzy42]

I see on the website they say it's $29.99 but when I go to Amazon's site (Through the links provided) it's $34.99...

I don't necessarily want to pay $5 over MSRP, is this a glitch with Amazon?

[AtlusAram]

I see on the website they say it's $29.99 but when I go to Amazon's site (Through the links provided) it's $34.99...

I don't necessarily want to pay $5 over MSRP, is this a glitch with Amazon?

We apologize for the confusion. The Steal Princess website is in error. The game's MSRP is, and has since its announcement been, $34.99.

Thank you for bringing the discrepancy to our attention.

[bleeps]

Another discrepancy at Amazon: they show the release date as June 30.

[LordAndrew]

Good call. I can't afford another April release. :(

[raiku]

limited?

if i preordered it in feb, will i get it?

[Lorinosan]

Damnit. I had only five games to buy this month but two were delayed and now Steal Princess. >.<. Now, May is looking to be fairly crowded.

[Birdpoopman]

Phew, Steal Princess getting pushed to May is actually a good thing. Although Steal Princess is probably my most anticipated announced Atlus game, I could absolutely wait a month. This gives me enough time to play Hammerin Hero, The Dark Spire, and Super Robot Taisen OG Saga: Endless Frontier! Hurrah!

[iammako3]

I guess you guys made my decision for me on whether to buy the game new or not. I'll wait for a used copy to float around into a Gamestop somewhere and grab it then. In this time of economic depression, every dollar counts for me, so if I can get a game with an employee discount I will!

Keep in mind I'm not saying this is a bad decision nor am I condemning or condoning the non-Gamestop thing (but Walmart? Seriously?). I like you guys and I hope you sell every copy of Steal Princess you make! ^_^ I just won't be buying one of them. :-(

[VMan]

I guess you guys made my decision for me on whether to buy the game new or not. I'll wait for a used copy to float around into a Gamestop somewhere and grab it then. In this time of economic depression, every dollar counts for me, so if I can get a game with an employee discount I will!

Keep in mind I'm not saying this is a bad decision nor am I condemning or condoning the non-Gamestop thing (but Walmart? Seriously?). I like you guys and I hope you sell every copy of Steal Princess you make! ^_^ I just won't be buying one of them. :-(

I'd be cautious about that if I were you considering Atlus has said the release will be limited. You may wanna go pretend like you're about a buy a used copy of My World My Way to see what I mean. (BTW, in the big picture, Walmart is a bigger game retail outlet Gamestop. A lot of people don't realize that Gamestop actually takes a back seat to department stores. Oh, and you may also wanna consider the fact that Gamestop thrives off recycling games as much as effectively possible)

A brilliant thing I'm seeing right now that I probably should have when the announcement was first made was the buzz you guys have generated by simply announcing it will be delayed. That in itself is easy publicity.

"Hey, did you hear? Steal Princess got delayed"
".... What is heck is Steal Princess?!?"

*Score +1 for Atlus product awareness*

[ReaperX30]

Phew, Steal Princess getting pushed to May is actually a good thing. Although Steal Princess is probably my most anticipated announced Atlus game, I could absolutely wait a month. This gives me enough time to play Hammerin Hero, The Dark Spire, and Super Robot Taisen OG Saga: Endless Frontier! Hurrah!

Exactly what I was thinking. Well for me it's only The Dark Spire and Super
Robot Taisen OG Saga but it's more than enough. A good move from Atlus cause if it gets more publicity this way and it sells well, if a sequel gets out in Japan then they might bring it over here since the first one did good.:)

[AdrianMorales]

'...Steal Princess will be available through fewer sales channels and in smaller quantities than other Atlus releases...' - well that sucks! Why can't there be a million copies of the game? You can have a billion of those stupid Brain Age 'games' (not to mention the clones), but something like Steal Princess comes in a limited edition. It’s just not fair.

[VMan]

'...Steal Princess will be available through fewer sales channels and in smaller quantities than other Atlus releases...' - well that sucks! Why can't there be a million copies of the game? You can have a billion of those stupid Brain Age 'games' (not to mention the clones), but something like Steal Princess comes in a limited edition. It’s just not fair.

Why did Atlus ship (I'm confidently assuming) a lot more copies of Persona 4 than they will Steal Princess and have made it available through more channels than Steal Princess will be?

Heck, why the heck is Atlus doing what this thread announces they will do regarding Steal Princess?

[AtlusAram]

Individual retailers decide which Atlus games to support or not support.

[iammako3]

Oooooh, so maybe if we all e-mail Gamestop with our intent to buy Steal Princess through them, they will renege on their decision and support it. It's worth a try, anyway.

[Jati no Rei]

So, I gather we can buy this from Amazon.com and Walmart.com? Is that it? I've already moved my $5 down on SP to the Dark Spire at Gamestop, as I assumed it wasn't going to re-enter their system.

[Rednusander]

So, I gather we can buy this from Amazon.com and Walmart.com? Is that it? I've already moved my $5 down on SP to the Dark Spire at Gamestop, as I assumed it wasn't going to re-enter their system.

It is available on both Amazon and Walmart.com, and should also be available in stores at Game Crazy.

[dungeon_man]

Why did Atlus ship (I'm confidently assuming) a lot more copies of Persona 4 than they will Steal Princess ...?

Do you think they had a big meeting where they decided they just don't want to make as much money on Steal Princess? They can only produce as many copies of their games as retailers wish to order. Pre-orders play a big role in retailer orders, that's why Atlus packs in the bonuses.

I'm only speculating here, but it's possible that Atlus is releasing too many DS games too close together, and GameStop doesn't want to devote that much shelf space to them. As a result, something had to give. Perhaps they had to drop SP from GS to ensure favorable shelf space for the bigger releases in June. (KiTN, SMT:DS).

At any rate, I'm sure Atlus is more disappointed than you are about SP not being at GS.

[VMan]

Why did Atlus ship (I'm confidently assuming) a lot more copies of Persona 4 than they will Steal Princess ...?

Do you think they had a big meeting where they decided they just don't want to make as much money on Steal Princess? They can only produce as many copies of their games as retailers wish to order. Pre-orders play a big role in retailer orders, that's why Atlus packs in the bonuses.

I'm only speculating here, but it's possible that Atlus is releasing too many DS games too close together, and GameStop doesn't want to devote that much shelf space to them. As a result, something had to give. Perhaps they had to drop SP from GS to ensure favorable shelf space for the bigger releases in June. (KiTN, SMT:DS).

At any rate, I'm sure Atlus is more disappointed than you are about SP not being at GS.

I'm well aware of purposes of preorder bonuses.

What I was getting at with my response to AdrianMorales was, being honest and realistic, a publisher is not gonna forecast every release to be a blockbuster hit with huge sales to correlate. AdrianMorales said its not "fair" for something like Brain Age to have ample shipments/availability while a game such as Steal Princess won't. My response was meant to imply that Brain Age likely has a much broader appeal and has proven successful in terms of sales. Furthermore (to compare Atlus' titles directly), do you think the average gamer, influenced by IP popularity and general product awareness/familiarity is more likely to buy a game called "Steal Princess" with gameplay likely appealing to a rather select audience, or a game with "Shin Megami Tensei" stamped on it?

I do believe retailers keep things like this in mind when deciding what and how much they will stock. But I also believe a publisher like Atlus keeps these things in mind when it comes to marketing focus and product availability within their capacity. This was actually what I was getting in with the first post I made in this thread:

"I have to wonder, do you guys feel similar about 101 Explosive Megamix? I haven't sensed much "enthusiasm" about it on your part for that game. Much less so than Steal Princess."

If I'm not mistaken, that is the ONE announced/upcoming Atlus USA title that has not been mentioned directly to the Atlus Faithful via the list. As a matter of fact I may have been the first person in the forum to do it. You may or may not have noticed there isn't even a sub-forum for it.

So when I go to Amazon.com and see fresh stock of Persona 3: FES and Persona 4 but see only a few copies (and with bloated price tags) of My World My Way (a much more recent release), I have to wonder just much of that due to the retailer maintaining the stock versus the publisher supplying the stock. And then when I see the latter is "Discontinued by manufacturer", I have to assume with the limited knowledge I have that the publisher does indeed keep such factors in mind when it comes to supplying the stock.

The product availability is not entirely on them, indeed. Retailers ultimately choose what what they will and will not stock, I know that. I'm just trying to say I believe the availability bottleneck (if any) can (and does) get placed on either end.

I am also indeed speculating, so Atlus, feel free to correct me if you wish. These are things I'd love to be sure about.

[dungeon_man]

^ Yes, I mistook the intent of your earlier post and I agree with you.

[Neveryll]

Pssst...

Someone should update the Coming Soon on the opening page. I saw it this morning and it still reflects the April 21 release date. :p

[Stuffgamer1]

*sigh* Gamestop still isn't carrying the game, all right. It's in the system for used copies (on the off chance that somebody wants to trade in a copy), but not new at all.

I was wondering about this a few days ago, and I'm glad I checked while there was still time to preorder on Amazon. I'd rather get my employee discount on the game, of course, but I'm not EVEN about to rely on getting a used copy of THIS game in stock!

[Neveryll]

I'm looking forward to this title :) May can't come soon enough.

[Pibbman]

Not trying to be a jerk here, but Atlus has been "pushing" back a LOT of titles these days. Sounds like a company needs to hire a project planner/manager.

[Rednusander]

Not trying to be a jerk here, but Atlus has been "pushing" back a LOT of titles these days. Sounds like a company needs to hire a project planner/manager.

Yeah, well, the jerk store called! Said they were all outta Pibbman! ;)

Trust me when I say that adding personnel would not have prevented the titles we've recently pushed back from being pushed back. I think the phrase "better late than never" certainly applies here.

[Yet Another Tim]

I'll definitely pre-order this on my b-day, once I get $100 to spend on.

Say, believe it or not, I actually assumed that you'd give away replicas of Anis' eye patch, as a pre-order bonus. But, that eye candy is good, seeing how I'm under the impression that this game will NOT get any reprint.

[Neveryll]

I've got my preorder through Walmart for this one. Day one here as well. :)

[rainking187]

I thought some people might be interested to know that the preorder price for this game at Amazon went down to $31.

[sirgrim]

Trust me when I say that adding personnel would not have prevented the titles we've recently pushed back from being pushed back. I think the phrase "better late than never" certainly applies here.

I'll be glad to wait a little while for bugs and testing to be finished. Nothing like a rushed game to ruin something great. It takes a while to get all the schwank bonuses ready too!

Plus with Dark Spire and Super Robot Taisen I already have enough to keep me occupied. I'm going to go pre-order this from Amazon right now. Both of the previous mentioned titles were one of the few purchases I made from GameStop. I usually don't shop there for anything else but a few of the harder to find titles, I guess they don't want more of my money.

Thanks for all the awesome games, Atlus!